The Northwest Missouri State volleyball team will begin its 2018 season this Friday and Saturday at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kansas.
 
The Bearcats will open play on Friday at 12 p.m. against Colorado State University-Pueblo. The Bearcats will also take on Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m.
 
Saturday's action will feature matches against Henderson State at 9 a.m. and Dallas Baptist at 1 p.m.

Tournament Central
 
Fri., Aug. 24
12 p.m. - Northwest Missouri State vs. Colorado State-Pueblo - LIVE STATS
4 p.m. - Southeastern Oklahoma vs. Northwest Missouri State - LIVE STATS

Sat., Aug. 25
9 a.m. - Northwest Missouri State vs. Henderson State - LIVE STATS
1 p.m. - Dallas Baptist vs. Northwest Missouri State - LIVE STATS

Head coach Amy Woerth's squad returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's team that went 17-15 overall and tied for fifth in the MIAA. The Bearcats have posted three consecutive winning seasons heading into 2018. It is the longest streak of consecutive winning years for the Bearcats since a stretch of seven from 1994-2000.
 
Heading the list of returners is senior outside hitter Maddy Bruder (Firth, Nebraska). Bruder is a three-time first-team all-MIAA honoree. She is only the third Northwest volleyball player in history to earn three first-team all-conference designations, joining Jill Quast (1998-2000) and Kelly Greenlee (1983-1985). Bruder has played in 89 career matches and is averaging 3.68 kills per set and 3.01 digs per set. Bruder needs 17 more digs to join to reach 1,000 career digs.
 
Senior libero/defensive specialist Olivia Nowakowski (Kansas City, Missouri) ranks No. 8 on Northwest's all-time digs list with 1,260 entering the 2018 season. Nowakowski needs 31 more digs to tie Heather Potts for No. 7 on the school's digs list. Nowakowski ranks No. 2 on Northwest's digs per set list with an average of 4.90 digs per set – trailing only Paige Spangenberg (2007-2010), who posted 5.10 digs per set in her career.
 
The Northwest volleyball program earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association's team academic award for the fifth consecutive year and 12^th time overall. Northwest compiled an impressive 3.74 cumulative grade point average in 2017-18.